a 17 year long road trip that started with a plan to drive to Alaska... in a 1928 Graham Paige

Herman and Candelaria Zapp set out on a six-month road trip to drive from Argentina to Alaska, but things went well, and their journey has taken them to 73 countries, across six different continents, into the homes of 2,500 welcoming strangers, and along the way, the couple welcomed four kids into the world during various stops on the map, including Canada.

“The idea was six months … It looked like enough time to go to Alaska and come back and have a family, and have kids and have a normal life,” he says from an auto shop where the family’s 1928 Graham-Paige was getting a tune-up and having the wooden spokes on its wheels inspected.

Herman believes the simplistic nature of the car’s engineering has helped his family’s journey last as long as it has – something that may not have happened with a newer vehicle.

“My Grandpa told me, ‘if you want to get far, you have to go slow. If you want to succeed it has to be something simple. And if you want to do something it should be with style,’ and this car fits those three things perfectly.”

balloonists in Namibia

use the settings to get CC captions, and then auto translate for your language

The family supplements the generosity they receive on the road by selling copies of their book, “Spark Your Dream,” from the roof of their car. The tale of their first journey became a bestseller in 2005 in their native Argentina.
https://www.facebook.com/herman.zapp
http://www.argentinaalaska.com/blog/Welcome-alaska

http://globalnews.ca/news/3207684/couple-globetrotting-for-17-years-heading-home-with-4-kids-as-souvenirs/

it's equipped with an exhaust manifold cooker, of course!

The following video was made by Charly Sinewan, a Spanish traveler who they met in Cape Town, he goes solo around the world in his motorbike.

While they were trying to arrange in which part of Zambia we would meet, they saw him coming in the opposite way in the same road!



I would have to admit that Mozambique was one of the most difficult countries for us and is one of the countries where we would choose not to return.

We often felt not like human beings, more like walking ATMs, the word for “Money” was deeply etched in our minds and became the most common denominator when someone approached to speak with us. If we asked for directions to get to a place, we knew the answer. If we asked for help to push the car when we get stuck, we also knew the answer. “Money” was always the first answer. Without money, nothing could happen.

One day we “lost” the gasoline jerry can, then it was Tehue’s shoes that disappeared, on another day it was the Old Car Club emblems that decorate the trunk, then a computer and backpack, and another attempt to remove a speaker.

 So many of our few possessions were disappearing as we moved through Mozambique. Worse still, all at different moments.

 In 15 years we had only lost one plastic chair and a tripod that was attached to the outside of the car. Then in just two months, all of this.

 Of course one must take into account that Mozambique is a poor country. Unfortunately this seems to be a question not of poverty but of culture.

http://www.argentinaalaska.com/blog/News

In Zimbabawe the engine was found to have a crack, and it was pulled from the car, repaired and reinstalled.

there is a note at the end of this video, "Please do not do this at HOME!" "Come to Africa!"

at Sandstone Estates